Happy Canada Day - and a Canadian collections overview

Canada Day is Canada's national day, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act (today called the Constitution Act, 1867), which united two British colonies and a province of the British Empire into a single country called Canada.

Canada Day is being celebrated with a number of events in London, taking place in Trafalgar Square.

The Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library Canadian collections cover modern history from about 1850, politics and international relations, economics and a wide rage of other subjects including environmental policy, race relations, human rights, migration, indigenous peoples and gender. Most publications are in English, although there is some material in French, mainly relating to Quebec. Coverage of Quebec affairs is greater then for other provinces because of the calls for changes in its constitutional status.

With thanks to the Canadian Government's Depository Services Porgramme, the Library has a good collection of Canadian official publications. Many of these are also available online. Canadian material is held in the collection of political pamphlets and ephemera, and archive collections inclue a collection curated by Library staff of material relating to the repatriation of the Canadian Constitution and repeal of the British North America Act (1982), ICS10.

The Senate House Library contains additional material in the History, Social Sciences and Literature collections, as well as hosting the former Canadian High Commission Library.

The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies includes a strong collection on Canadian law, including statutes, law reports, journals and monographs, at both federal and provincial levels. The library has published a research guide to Canadian materials.

The Institute of Historical Research supplements the Institute of Commonwealth Studies collection with its collection on the early colonial history of Canada.